It was
during a stay in Paris, summer of 2012, that I found
myself
particularly struck by various pieces of stencil graffiti
scattered throughout the city.

What really drew me in was the high-contrast boldness of the
stencilized images and the crisp stencil lines combined with
the beautiful and unpredictable soft edges caused by spray
paint finding its way under the stencil edges. The stark
visual strength of these pieces, together with the known
speed and stealth with which such art is created, put my
viewing experience right up there with the more “sanctioned”
works of art I was able to view in slightly more controlled
environments (i.e. the Louvre).

This experience led me to create stencilized versions of my
own oil paintings, which has proven to be a perfect medium
for reducing the subjects of my paintings to their iconic
essence--a great exercise for any painter, and a
particularly meaningful addition to my own explorations in
art.

--Don Haggerty

HERO

Let me teach you how to fly, to find your wings, to stretch them
wide, to point them to the sky.

Let me teach you how to fly, to decipher up from down, to turn
around your fear of heights, to fear instead the ground.

Let me teach you how to fly, to trust, to know, to leap, to find
that what was thought a silly dream has become your soaring
place.

Now let me teach you how to land, to touch your wheels down, so
having learned the joy of flight, you’ll stand once more upon
your feet and never doubt again.